Technology

Technologies in GAINS represent applications designed to control or reduce emissions of air pollutants and short-lived greenhouse gases. The implementation rate of specific end-of-pipe technologies multiplied with activity data and the corresponding emission factor leads to the computation of emission levels of the relevant pollutants, as detailed under the page Emissions.

Those abatement measures encompass filters, scrubbers, various types of installations such as stove types, various standards of exhaust cleaning such as the Euro standards for vehicles, as well as improved ways of handling manure, or best practice controls on process emissions. Some relate uniquely to one particular type of equipment while others represent rather categories of installations. For instance, selective catalytic reduction for power plants, or high efficiency dedusters and stage 3 process emission controls for SO2 and NOx in the industrial sector are GAINS technologies.

In the GAINS framework, technologies influence emissions but they do not alter the activity level so that the energy balance stays unchanged. Technologies can influence emissions of one or more pollutants as not every technology controls every pollutant. In some cases, the application of a control technology which is mainly designed to reduce emissions of one pollutant can lead to small increases of emissions of another pollutant. For instance, the selective catalytic reduction of NOx leads to slightly increased NH3 emissions. Such effects, both in terms of co-control or trade-offs across several pollutants are represented accurately in GAINS.

The level of technology implementation for each activity is specified in control strategies (see also the Scenario components section), whereas the complete strategy includes information on controls applied in all sectors for all pollutants. In the absence of any policy, the default technology is an uncontrolled one, whose emission factor is unmitigated. In addition to their physical properties, such as their efficiency in emission reduction, technologies in GAINS are further described by their costs. This includes the investment costs per unit of activity and total cost per unit of activity. The cost for an uncontrolled situation, that is, the absence of a specific emission control technology, is characterized by zero costs.

A comprehensive list of the 522 technologies used in GAINS can be found under the Technology page of the Glossary.